Held every year in Lake Biwa in Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture, the Japan International Birdman Rally is an event where enthusiasts from all over the world share with and engage in their passion of human-powered flight. It's one of a number of similar events around the world, and there really is something alluring about the idea of flying in the sky with one's own strength.
When college student Yukina Toriyama (Tao Tsuchiya) enters a technical college, she finds herself surrounded by plaid polo shirt-wearing nerds. She then finds herself attracted to Kei (Mahiro Takasugi), a member of the human powered flight club. She joins the club to get closer to him, and finds herself helping the club compete in the next Birdman Rally.
Tori Girl! is perhaps the first real comedy by director Tsutomu Hanabusa, who is probably best known for directing the horror film Sadako 3D. And surprisingly, it works; it's a highly entertaining, hilarious film.
If we whittle it down to the basics, Tori Girl! is another one of those movies where a person picks up a (oftentimes completely niche) hobby and eventually becomes pretty good at it. It's a subgenre of fiction that I like to call "ganbare!" (がんばれ), a Japanese word that implies a stubborn sense of perseverance. But the film is full of these little subversions that only serve to heighten its comedic value, ultimately making the proceedings far more interesting.
Tori Girl! focuses less on the construction of the aircraft and its technical details (which would, to be honest, be substantial enough to make a movie on its own) and focuses more on Yukina's training to become a pilot of one of these human powered flying machines. The training contains a lot of cardio, and in lieu of the flying machines, there's a lot of cycling involved. This sounds a bit boring, but it's all about the character interactions in this film, especially with Yukina and her fellow pilots Kei and Sakaba (Shotaro Mamiya). Sakaba becomes the yin to Yukina's yang, and the comedic timing of Tsuchiya and Mamiya is on point.
The rest of the cast is rounded out by good performances, especially memorable turns by comedian Nadal, who plays an enigmatic alumnus, and a cameo from comedian Jiro Todoroki.
Tori Girl! is a definite crowd pleaser and one of my most entertaining experiences at Eiga Sai this year. While it doesn't delve into particularly heavy subject matter, it doesn't have to. It's 98 minutes of crazy, hilarious joy, the kind of joy that can only come from watching someone learn and perfect a niche craft.
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